University of Wyoming Physics/Astronomy

My D and I visited UWyo recently and she really liked the campus and activities offered there. She is interested in Astronomy/Physics and visited the Astronomy department. She was very impressed with the meeting with one of the professors (it was supposed to be a 30 minute meeting but he spent over an hour with her giving her a full tour of the department and having her visit undergrads who were there doing research.) It was very different from our other college tours and now UWyo has moved to the top of her list.

Does anyone know anything about the physics/astronomy department at UWyo? Can she get a good education there with decent prospects for graduate school? I know there are many top universities who offer this program but she doesn’t really have much interest in chasing top schools. She is an excellent student but is pretty laid back and would not be happy in a cutthroat environment. It certainly helps that it is very affordable for OOS. I know the school ranking isn’t that high but that doesn’t necessary mean the department itself isn’t very good. Any insight would be appreciated.

I know nothing about UW, but things to look for in general are regularity of course offerings, core course requirements/sequences, and ability to participate in UG research. Getting into a top grad program doesn’t depend on the UG ranking. It is going to depend on GPA, coursework, research, GRE/PGRE scores, and LOR.

Thanks for your reply!